#StartupsEverywhere: Nicky Goulimis, Co-Founder & COO, Nova Credit
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Helping Immigrants Establish Credit in the United States
Nova Credit is a cross-border credit reporting company that allows immigrants to easily transfer their international credit histories to the United States. We recently spoke with Nicky Goulimis, Nova Credit’s Co-Founder and COO, to learn more about the startup’s work, the important role that immigrants play in the U.S. economy, and how policymakers can better support foreign-born workers and visa holders.
What in your background made you interested in launching Nova Credit?
I went to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which is nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley and has a really heavy entrepreneurial orientation. I arrived there with no knowledge of startups, but the environment was super dynamic. I met my co-founder, Misha Esipov, through school, and the two of us started working alongside our third co-founder, Loek Janssen, on a class project. We were all immigrants: Misha is from Russia, I’m from Greece and the U.K., and Loek is from the Netherlands.
All three of us realized that we experienced a common problem: we all had trouble accessing credit as immigrants. I applied for credit and was rejected, and when I tried to get an auto loan I was quoted a very high interest rate. When I tried to get an apartment I was asked to give a six month deposit because my credit history from the U.K. didn’t transfer to the U.S. So that entrepreneurial environment, and a deeper understanding of this problem, is what pushed us to launch Nova Credit.
Tell us about Nova Credit and how you’re working to help immigrants establish credit in the U.S.
We connect with credit bureaus all around the world to bring immigrants’ credit history to the U.S. We partner with financial institutions to ensure that banks can access this information and ultimately feel comfortable extending credit to newcomers.
Our core product is the Credit Passport®. Just like a passport unlocks access to another country, the credit passport is a financial identity that immigrants can take with them around the world. Similar to a U.S. credit report, the Credit Passport® contains a FICO-like equivalent score, tradelines, and inquiry history, allowing consumers who have recently arrived in the U.S. to attempt to demonstrate their creditworthiness to lenders. This allows an immigrant to pull their international credit data and share that in an application for a student loan or a credit card with just a few clicks.
The Trump administration has taken a number of steps to limit immigration, including suspending work visas for high-skilled foreign workers. What impact have these policies had on the newcomers with whom you work?
Almost every study shows that immigrants don’t take away jobs, but rather that they create them. As the American economy recovers from COVID, the country needs healthcare workers, investments in emerging technologies, and new businesses. Despite immigrants being approximately 13 percent of the population, they’re overrepresented as small business owners, as entrepreneurs, and as healthcare workers.
We hear stories from immigrants we work with who are stuck abroad in this weird limbo, waiting to see if they’ll have the option or ability to come to the United States. Some of them are actually starting to look at other countries, like Canada and Australia, which are able to attract some of this talent away from the U.S. That uncertainty can have a very real impact on the lives of immigrants. Earlier in the pandemic, for example, many people felt forced to choose between health and safety and the legality of their status. That’s why we launched an effort in April to help ease some of that uncertainty by lobbying the government to extend visa deadlines. We’ve had some amazing support, including current and former executives from American Express, JPMorgan Chase, and PayPal. Some elements of what we recommended were in the House’s HEROES Act, which is a first step. However, to fully realize the benefits, we need it to become law.
How have Nova Credit and the newcomers that rely on your services been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and are there any steps that policymakers can take to further support startups like yours?
Policymakers have recently and should continue to recognize the role that financial technology can play in expanding access to products and services and streamlining delivery. The role that fintech has played in initiatives like the Paycheck Protection Program’s loan disbursements over the last few months, for example, is commendable.
We’re entering a recession, and responsible and fair access to lending is critically important. We’re starting to see a lot of banks pull back from lending because they’re scared about the economic uncertainty. It’s important to continue emphasizing data that allows banks to feel comfortable lending. At Nova Credit, we’re really committed to accelerating fair lending for immigrants and for the diverse population of the country. Policymakers need to encourage lenders to make use of broader data sets to empower consumers to access the products that they need right now.
The other issue, of course, is immigration. We need federal agencies like USCIS to be staffed and equipped properly so they can minimize processing delays. And they should also invest in transitioning to digital processing. Many other countries have been able to make that transition, but we’re just not seeing that yet.
What are some of the startup-related policy issues and concerns that you believe should receive more attention from local, state, and federal policymakers?
When you look at startup activity, the statistics around immigrant entrepreneurs speak for themselves. More than 40 percent of the big entrepreneurial successes on the stock market were founded by immigrants. So federal policymakers need to pay attention to the importance of immigration. When we talk about H-1B visa holders, the majority of these people come to work in the tech sector. And tech is a critical pillar of our economy—both now and as we build back from the pandemic. Many companies have talent gaps, so we need to create clear visa opportunities that are fair. The process that we have now is too antiquated.
We know that credit is fundamental to economic success, but we also need policymakers to work on accelerating the integration of immigrants into the country. This includes accelerating access to jobs and prioritizing things such as professional mentoring and public communications skills building. There’s still a massive skills gap, and I think we can work on crafting this more effectively at the local level.
What is your goal for Nova Credit moving forward?
Any immigrant across the globe should be able to integrate their life and access credit in a new country. We want to continue to be advocates for that type of immigration, as well as for the diversity and the cultural richness that brings with it. Long-term, we’re also thinking a lot about how we can continue to build data platforms that will remove friction for financial services so they can serve an even broader population.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
Engine works to ensure that policymakers look for insight from the startup ecosystem when they are considering programs and legislation that affect entrepreneurs. Together, our voice is louder and more effective. Many of our lawmakers do not have first-hand experience with the country's thriving startup ecosystem, so it’s our job to amplify that perspective. To nominate a person, company, or organization to be featured in our #StartupsEverywhere series, email edward@engine.is.
